|
|
| |
|
|
Colorized by Shaheen Khorsandi
Love means longing. Love means restlessness.
Love means harassment. Love means separation.
It is all necessary.
|
Weekly Reflections No. 19
from Meher Baba Books
(Los Angeles, California)
|
Greetings from Los Angeles!
Welcome to the world of this mini-circular which is now 19 weeks old. Thank you Baba.
Greetings with a sadness in our hearts. Last Saturday, we received news that former LA Baba family members who had lived in LA and served the community for more than three years, were in an auto accident near Fresno, California.
Two loved ones have slipped away; we feel they are already basking in their Beloved's loving embrace, "feeling
the fragrance of roses." Although they will be sorely missed by their family and friends, Beloved Baba's discourses on death remind us to recall the happy memories we all shared, to help in lightening the burden. "Surely we belong to God, and to Him shall we return."
We hold the remaining family members deeply in our hearts, with prayers and love.
This week's circular is dedicated to the two departed souls Khayla Choi and Christina Jarrett, and the severely-injured loving mother, Peni Choi. Hence, this week's theme is "
Prayers of the Heart". Please keep these Baba-friends in your prayers.
We hope you enjoy these small occasions for reflecting on the power and beauty of Beloved Baba's words. Enjoy His presence, our life is not our own.
|
~~
Prayers of the Heart
~~
|
~~The Master's Prayer~~
O Parvardigar, the Preserver and Protector of All, You are without Beginning and without End, Non-dual, beyond comparison, and none can measure You.
You are without color, without expression, without form and without attributes. You are unlimited and unfathomable, beyond imagination and conception, eternal and imperishable.
You are indivisible, and none can see You but with eyes Divine.
You always were, You always are, and You always will be.
You are everywhere; You are in everything; and You are also beyond everywhere and beyond everything.
You are in the firmament and in the depths.
You are manifest and unmanifest on all planes and beyond all planes; You are in the three worlds and also beyond the three worlds. You are imperceptible and independent.
You are the Creator, the Lord of Lords, the Knower of all minds and hearts You are Omnipotent and Omnipresent.
You are Knowledge Infinite, Power Infinite and Bliss Infinite.
You are the Ocean of Knowledge, All-knowing, Infinitely-knowing, the Knower of the past, the present, and the future;
and You are Knowledge itself.
You are All-merciful and eternally benevolent.
You are the Soul of souls, the One with infinite attributes.
You are the Trinity of Truth, Knowledge and Bliss;
You are the Source of Truth, the Ocean of Love.
You are the Ancient One, the Highest of the High;
You are Prabhu and Parameshwar;
You are the Beyond-God and the Beyond-Beyond-God also;
You are Parabrahma, Allah, Elahi, Yezdan, Ahuramazda, and God the Beloved.
You are named Ezad: the only One worthy of worship.
From C.B. PUrdom,
The God-Man
(1962), p. 209
|
Masters Prayer in Farsi/Persian Language.
|
|
Baba stood up and asked the following persons to repeat aloud the following names of God seven times each, as they had done before. He also asked the gathering to stand and mentally repeat wholeheartedly with them: Nilu "Om Parabrahma Paramatma!" Padri "Ya Yezdan!" Baidul "La Ilah Illallah!" Eruch "O God, Father in Heaven!"
After invoking God through the repetition of His names, Baba asked Donkin to read the Prayer of Repentance in English
[The Prayer of Repentance had been dictated by Baba in Khuldabad exactly a year previously, in November 1951, but it was first recited aloud this day]:
We repent, O God most merciful, for all our sins,
for every thought that was false or unjust or unclean,
for every word spoken that ought not to have been spoken,
for every deed done that ought not to have been done.
We repent for every deed and word and thought inspired by
selfishness,
and for every deed and word and thought inspired by hatred.
We repent most specially for every lustful thought and every lustful action,
for every lie, for all hypocrisy, for every promise given but not fulfilled,
and for all slander and back-biting.
Most specially also, we repent for every action that has brought ruin to others,
for every word and deed that has given others pain,
and for every wish that pain should befall others.
In your unbounded mercy, we ask you to forgive us, O God, for all these sins
committed by us, and to forgive us for our constant failures to think and speak
and act according to your will.
The Prayer of Repentance
by Meher Baba
from Lord Meher (revised online edition), pp. 3173, 5432
|
A Prayer For Baba's Lovers
by Meher Baba
Beloved, God, help us all to love You more and more,
and more and more and still yet more,
till we become worthy of Union with You;
and help us all to hold fast to Baba's daaman
till the very end.
from Meher Baba,
The Path of Love, ed. Filis Frederick (reissued 2002), p. 129
|
The Essence of Prayer
Meher Baba
What constitutes the essence of prayer? Many prayers to God are current among the lovers of God, arising as they do from diverse cultural contexts. Some of the prayers invariably contain an element of asking something from God, either material or spiritual. In fact, God is so merciful and bountiful that even without their asking He always gives much more than His lovers can receive. He knows their real needs more deeply than they do. Therefore the element of asking something from God is superfluous. It often mars the inner love and worship which a prayer tries to express. The ideal prayer to the Lord is nothing more than spontaneous praise of His being. You praise Him, not in the spirit of bargain but in the spirit of self-forgetful appreciation of what He really is. You praise Him because He is praiseworthy. Your praise is a spontaneous appreciative response to His true being, as infinite light, infinite power and infinite bliss. It is futile to attempt a standard prayer and hold it up as an ideal for all people of all times. The glory of the Almighty transcends all human understanding and defies all verbal descriptions. Eternally fresh and self-renewing in its unlimited amplitude, it never fades. Nor is it ever confined within the limits of the best of hymns. All hymns and prayers reach out towards the eternal Truth of Godhead only to merge those who utter them in silent and unending adoration. If by ideal prayer to the Lord is meant a set formula, any search for it is a wild goose chase. All prayers ultimately initiate the soul into an ever deepening silence of sweet adoration; and all formulas are dissolved and assimilated into the integral and direct appreciative perception of divine Truth. That which seeks to reach towards the immeasurable, itself becomes incapable of being measured by any set standards.
Beams From Meher Baba on the Spiritual Panorama (1958), pp. 74-76
|
 d
detail of a painting by Diane Cobb
The Song of God's Names
by Meher Baba
Ezad means the One who is the First - God the omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. There are millions of names of God, but those that have a sound effect are few. Every sound you make, every thought you think, good or bad, stays. But that sound which results in feeling has force behind it which helps or hurts others.
All this noise of guns, bombs and airplanes, et cetera, of war, will be utilized for the spiritual life of the world in the future. Yes, it all stays. It cannot go. Where can it go? It is like water which evaporates, forms into clouds and then comes down again as rain. But you all must sing the song of God's names together with rhythm and timing to produce an effect.
When the name of God is sung with feeling and rhythm, it even has the effect of temporarily bringing down the majzoobs from their superconscious state. Abdul Baba of Bombay was a known majzoob. He was always unconscious - did not eat or drink anything, simply lay unconscious. But when one singer would come to his door every day singing, "Allah-Hu, Allah-Hu," in rhythm, within half an hour, Abdul Baba would come down to consciousness, begin to look about, talk, eat, and then again merge into his former state.
Bhau Kalchuri,
Lord Meher, Vol. 7 & 8, p. 2622 (revised online
p. 2158)
|
Prayer Dedicated by Mani
to Beloved Meher Baba
Take my life and let it be,
Consecrated Lord to Thee,
Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy Love.
Take my moments and my days
Let them flow in ceaseless Praise,
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee.
Take my voice and let it sing
Always only for my King
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee.
Take my silver and my gold
Not a mite would I withhold
Take my intellect and use
All its powers as Thou shalt choose.
Take my will for it is Thine
It shall be no longer mine
Take my heart it is Thine own
It shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord and pour
At thy feet its endless store
Take my self and it shall be
Ever, only, all for Thee.
(a traditional hymn by Frances Ridley Havergal)
from Mani S. Irani,
82 Family Letters
(1976), p. 209
|
Gifts of Love
Love is a gift from God to man.
Obedience is a gift from Master to man.
Surrender is a gift from man to Master.
One who loves desires the will of the Beloved.
One who obeys does the will of the Beloved.
One who surrenders knows nothing but the will of the Beloved.
Love seeks union with the Beloved.
Obedience seeks the pleasure of the Beloved.
Surrender seeks nothing.
One who loves is the lover of the Beloved.
One who obeys is the beloved of the Beloved.
One who surrenders has no existence other than the Beloved.
Greater than love is obedience.
Greater than obedience is surrender.
All three arise out of, and remain contained in, the Ocean of divine Love.
Meher Baba
from
The Everything and the Nothing (1964), p. 5
1989 � Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust
|
|
Artwork by Shaheen Khorsandi
To love God in the most practical way is to love our fellow beings.
If we feel for others in the same way as we feel for our own dear ones, we love God.
If, instead of seeing faults in others, we look within ourselves, we are loving God.
If, instead of robbing others to help ourselves, we rob ourselves to help others, we are loving God.
If we suffer in the sufferings of others, and feel happy in the happiness of others, we are loving God.
from Meher Baba, The Path of Love (reissued 2000), ed. Filis Frederick, p. 109
 |
Praying With Baba
Mani S. Irani
When we were in Poona last summer, in Guruprasad,
the Parvardigar Prayer and the Prayer of Repentance
had to be recited. The men would be on one side,
and the women on the other.
Baba would come to the men, and then Eruch would recite the prayers. All the men stood up, and Baba stood up every time with joined hands.
And then he would come to the women Mandali. They would all stand up, I would recite the prayers,
and again Baba would stand with hands joined.
Even then it didn't strike us, because this was the first time
he did that. And Baba said that such a prayer had never been seen before, and never will be, and that his "reciting,"
his participating in the prayer while we said it (he stood
only because he would not utter the words; it was him praying, really), his joining in the prayer with us would mean benefit
for each one who recited this prayer. And after he
dropped his body, the benefit would be great for them.
from Ivy O. Duce,
How A Master Works (1975)
|
If anything ever touches My universal heart it is love. I have crossed the limited earthly oceans to bring to you all the limitless and shoreless Divine Ocean of Love. Those who do not dare to love Me seek safety on the shores. You who have been loving Me are swimming in this Divine Ocean. Love Me more and more till you get drowned in Me. Dive deep and you will gain the priceless pearl of Infinite Oneness.
Meher Baba
from John A. Grant, Practical Spirituality With Meher Baba (1986), p. 64
|
GOD, YOU ALONE EXIST Prayer
by Meher Baba and Bhau Kalchuri
Oh priceless treasure of Knowledge!
You are within and without, and You are the Ocean of Mercy.
You are in all the worlds; You are the Ocean of attributes!
Oh Meher, God-Incarnate, You alone exist!
You are Yezdan. You are Ezad.
You are Allah and Ishwar.
You are Ram and You are Buddha.
You are Beloved Lord Krishna,
Who with one finger lifted the mountain; You alone exist! You are the Beyond God and the Beyond-Beyond God also.
Oh Ocean of Kindness, You alone exist.
You are Muhammad, You are Perfection Personified.
You are Knowledge Itself, and You alone exist.
You live in everyone and You are everyone. Oh Beloved, You are the Enlightened One, and You alone exist.
You are with attributes and without attributes!
You are the sole player in the divine game. You alone exist.
You are matchless, the Only One!
You reside in every heart, and You alone exist.
You are eternally motionless, and immovable is Your abode.
You are the Highest, for You alone exist.
You are the Doer, the deed, and the cause of doing!
The sustainer You are, and the Master of Masters.
You alone exist.
You are the seeker, the worship and the sadhana. Oh Meher, God-Incarnate, You alone exist!
You are in front and behind, You are above and below,
O Lord, You live in every house, and You alone exist.
You are beyond Beyond, yet You remain within everyone.
You are All-Pervading, and You alone exist.
You are in each neighborhood. You are the Sustainer.
You Yourself are all worlds, and You alone exist.
Everywhere, whether above or below,
You are complete; You alone exist.
You are unseen, yet seen also.
You live in everyone forgiving each his sins. You alone exist.
There is no one without You! You are manifesting and unmanifest, as You alone exist. You are man. You are birds.
You are fish and animals, for You alone exist.
You are bugs and gnats, You are snakes and scorpions,
You are ants and mosquitoes, for You alone exist.
You are insects. You are lice.
You are dogs, asses and pigs. You alone exist.
You are deer and elephants;
You are cats and monkeys; You alone exist.
You are the moon and the stars, the dawn and the night,
and the sun and also the light. You alone exist. You are wind and water,
and the animals of the water; You alone exist. You are silver and gold, You are copper and iron,
You are brass and stone; You alone exist.
You are tea and coffee, and the sugar also; You alone exist.
You are paper and the book,
You are the school and office; You alone exist.
You are pen and ink and You are the gifted writer.
You alone exist.
You are the door and window.
You are the marble floor; You alone exist.
You are the medicine and the disease
and the Doctor also; You alone exist.
You are the game and the Player,
and the spectator also; You alone exist.
You are the flower and the thorn,
and You are the fragrance. You alone exist.
You are the Singer. You are the musical instrument.
You are the sweet tunes, for You alone exist.
You are the Prayer and the words of the prayer.
You are the forces of evil and the powers of light.
You alone exist.
You are the soldier, the army, and the Supreme General.
You alone exist.
You are the Sailor, the ship, and the wide Ocean;
You alone exist!
You are the storm's turbulence and the tranquil waters.
You are the pearl and You are the shell. You alone exist.
You are the shore, the Ferryman, and the sea also,
for You alone exist.
You are the Beggar, the giver, and the charity; You alone exist.
You are the slave and the Lord;
You are the Beyond God. You are God. You alone exist. You are Mother and Father;
You are Master, brother and friend.
You are family and relatives; You alone exist.
There is no one besides You!
Eternally You are, for You alone exist!
You are Pran and You are heart.
You are also the Beloved of the heart; You alone exist.
You are the Beloved and the Lover,
and You are the nectar of Love, as You alone exist!
You are breath and life itself.
Our minds are enthralled by Your beauty! For You alone exist!
You are the house. You are the inhabitants and the bricks and furnishings. You alone exist. You are the Worshiper, his worship, and the One worshiped, as You alone exist.
You are Consciousness and the Way to Consciousness!
Oh Meher, God-Incarnate, You alone exist!
You are Khwaja, You are Qutub!
You are Pir and Qalandar! You alone exist.
You are Hafiz, You are Sanai!
You are Dara and Alexander! You alone exist.
You are Jesus Christ! You are Elahi!
You are the Ocean, infinite and pure; You alone exist.
You are the Koran and the One who prays!
You are Vali, and You are the Messenger; You alone exist.
You are the Beginning, and You are the End.
You are also beyond the Beginning and beyond the End.
You alone exist. You are infinitely beautiful and infinitely close!
Oh Meher, God-Incarnate, You alone exist!
You are Brahma and You are Vishnu;
You are the guileless Shankar. You alone exist!
Bhau says, "O Beloved Meher, You are The Word
and You are The Letter! You alone exist!"
~Bhau Kalchuri,
Lord Meher
, 1st ed., Vol. 17 & 18, pp. 5932-5935;
see also Bhau Kalchuri,
The Nothing and The Everything
(1982)
|
Video Corner
|
|
|
You Alone Exist
By Mark Choi
Voice of Khayla is featured
|
Happy Trails Khayla. We Love you. Rest in Baba's Arms.
See you all next week.
Keep Happy in His Love.
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
Meher Baba Books (Los Angeles)
www.meherbababooks.com
Avatar Meher Baba Center of Southern California
1214 S. Van Ness Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90019
|
|
|
